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Joseph Hallbeck

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My youngest son, William, has a fairly sophisticated pallet for a 12-year-old. He loves macaroni and cheese, Pop-Tarts and exorbitantly-sugared cereals - like most kids - but he maintains an affinity for "adult" fare as well. For example, he would just as soon eat a grapefruit for breakfast as a Toaster Strudel or a sweet bowl of Count Chocula. For lunch, a nice piece of fish and a scoop of cottage cheese would not cause him to pine for Spaghettios. He doesn't even like Spaghettios. For Easter, the little epicurean has requested lamb.

Today is the first day of the Chinese New Year - or the Lunar New Year, aka "Spring Festival." It is the time to "cleanse the house" and "sweep away all ill-fortune" even though it is considered bad luck to use a broom during the holiday. It's sort of like our Christmas season, spread out over 15 days with various celebrations. This year is "the year of the goat" - a phenomenon that hasn't occurred since 2002. My meager research tells me the one major difference between these two traditions is in their mythical representatives.